“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.”

Catch a fallen star . . . Tristran thorn promised to bring back a fallen star. So he sets out on a journey to fulfill the request of his beloved, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester—and stumbles into the enchanted realm that lies beyond the wall of his English country town. Rich with adventure and magic, Stardust is one of master storyteller Neil Gaiman's most beloved tales, and the inspiration for the hit movie.

Years ago I saw the film adaptation of this novel, and have wanted to read it for years. Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is a fairytale, an adventure, and a romance. Set in Victorian England, a young man sets out to find his heart’s desire, and gets exactly what he wished for, if not in the way he intended. Charming, engaging, and fun, Stardust was quite the page-turner I hoped it would be.

“A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless, really…”Do the stars gaze back?” Now that’s a question.”

Stardust uses British mythology and faery tales to create this romance between a young man in search of adventure and a falling star he hoped to give to his childhood crush as a gift. Born through mysterious circumstances, young Tristran is unlike the other inhabitants of Wall and dreams of visiting far off places. The search for the star is just the impetus he needs to pick up his things and leave his hometown. While Tristran searches for the star for love, others search for it to gain power and youth. Witches, murderous princes, and an assortment of strange creatures run amok through this book and pulls the reader from the seemingly uptight Victorian era into a world where anything is possible.

“Silver chains come in all shapes and sizes.”

I really enjoyed this book. While there are many changes that were made when the novel was adapted for film, the only one that bothered me was the ending. Even though the book has a pretty great ending, the filmmakers actually created one that was a lot better. In fact, it was the way the film ended that made me want to read the book in the first place. Aside from that particular disappointment, I found Stardust to be an enjoyable and easy read, and it’s watered my thirst for other Gaiman novels.

Rating Report

Plot

Characters

Writing

Pacing

Overall:

4.8

About Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s work has been honoured with many awards internationally, including the Newbery and Carnegie Medals. His books and stories have also been honoured with 4 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, 1 World Fantasy Award, 4 Bram Stoker Awards, 6 Locus Awards, 2 British SF Awards, 1 British Fantasy Award, 3 Geffens, 1 International Horror Guild Award and 2 Mythopoeic Awards. Full list here.